PS Vita: Semi-hack shown on video, Sony in big trouble?

The PS Vita has only been available in Japan for a few days, but it looks like Sony may already have a major problem on their hands, as it appears one user has managed to get some unsigned code running on the device, potentially opening up the possibilities of homebrew on the PS Vita.

It is important to state though that this doesn’t appear to be a full on hack of the PS Vita, but rather a surprising decision by Sony if they have overlooked one loophole of a PSP playback feature on the Vita.

We’re talking about the built-in PSP emulator, that allows the user to playback multiple PSP titles on the Vita. However, one user has used the PSP emulator on the Vita to get unsigned code running on the device – coming in the form of the infamous ‘Hello World’ program which if you are familiar with, you’ll know that it is usually one of the first steps in getting unofficial programs running on a system, i.e homebrew.

Here are some notes relating to the hack which was posted on Neogaf recently, as reported from TheSixthAxis:

”Technically, the idea behind the hack is simple but brilliant: the PS Vita has a PSP emulator, and we have plenty of PSP game exploits lying around… can we assume they will work on the emulator? That’s what teck4 tried, and the answer is yes, so he managed to run unsigned code on the PS Vita.”

While those of you who enjoyed running custom firmware on the PSP will be optimistic about this, there may be worrying signs ahead for those of you who plan to buy the system from Sony in February. If it is confirmed that the PS Vita is prone to security loopholes via the PSP emulator, then Sony may decide to remove this feature entirely in a future firmware update prior to the Vita western launch.

No PSP game support on the Vita sounds drastic we agree, but Sony will obviously be keen to avoid another PSP disaster with regards to piracy. If you are planning to get a PS Vita, let us know your thoughts on this.